Recently a new batch of Thomas Hardy Ale- 11.3% barley wine- was brewed at Hepworths. Good news, it’s a classic beer.
What struck me most about the announcement was the year it was first brewed- 1968. I probably actually knew this, having drunk a bottle or two back in the day, but in my mind its one of those beers that speaks of tradition dating back to the nineteenth century.
There are other beers in the same category. Fullers ESB is a classic surely always with us (first brewed 1971- at least according to Wiki) while Hook Norton’s Old Hooky dates from 1977.
Fullers (Ashai) have announced a new release of Gales Hordean Special Bitter (HSB) using Gales yeast. I well recall drinking it on family holidays on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s a 4.8% special bitter. It was first brewed in 1959.
Some strong beers that are still with us to do have a genuinely long heritage. Adnams Tally Ho was first brewed in 1880 while Robinson’s is marking the 125th anniversary of Old Tom.
A lot of effort is put into making sure our beer heritage survives- rightly so- but as Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger argued ultimately all traditions are invented its just a question of when.
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